HR departments are increasingly at the forefront of driving corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, as businesses recognize the integral role of HR in shaping organisational culture and practices. From developing policies that promote ethical conduct and environmental sustainability to fostering employee engagement in volunteer programs and community outreach, HR professionals are instrumental in steering companies towards a more socially sustainable path.

How can they do it?

The HR department has several tools that are either fully developed by the internal team or shaped significantly based on input from the team. It is important to emphasise the need for a strong team with a real commitment to shape a company’s corporate culture and strengthen its social responsibility mandate.

Encouraging employee volunteerism

In South Africa, corporate volunteering programs have become more popular in recent years. Here in the UK, it is a standard part of most employment contracts, that employers offer 2-3 days a year (paid) for employees to participate in volunteer activities. My experience is that most people don’t know how to use these days and the organisations, whilst welcoming volunteers, could be happier with longer term involvement from enthusiastic supporters.

HR could do a much better job to make sure these volunteer days are used by establishing partnerships with selected charities, organisations and initiatives to save employees the hassle of searching for an organisation themselves. This would be beneficial for both parties, as the organisation would have access to a good pipeline of enthusiastic employees who could contribute continuously.

HR could also set up the schedule for employees to volunteer, together with the supported organisation, to make sure that help is there when it is needed the most. Whether the initiative is related to operational risks and impacts, or something completely unrelated, it signals that the company is committed to social responsibility and sustainability. Pro tip is to lead by example and recruit senior people from the company to promote the initiative and encourage participation from others.

Policies and practices

The HR department must setup company policies and update them in line with new legislation. Making sure that there is a good representation of people from various backgrounds – meeting the basic criteria for the role of course – on job selection shortlists, ensuring that the interview panel is also diverse and making extra effort for new hires who suffer from disabilities are just a few practical ways to put policies into practice.

In my line of work, it is standard practice to verify how policies are implemented through examining actions not just outcomes. By this, I mean that statistics on diversity are often misleading without the context. For me, it is knowing that reasonable effort was made to attract diverse talent but the at the end of the day, the most suitable candidate was selected regardless of their race, gender or ethnicity.

Hiring people is not the only thing HR can do internally to contribute to social responsibility. When it comes to maintaining the culture of transparency, HR has a very significant role in how they handle promotions or dismissals. HR is also the department responsible for managing internal grievances, including those related to gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and assault, and harassment.

HR can have a dedicated focal point with training to address such sensitive issues, with a mechanism to protect the victim. Promoting a culture that facilitates collaboration, transparency, decisions based on meritocracy will certainly contribute to making the world a better place. It may not be obvious how these internal policies and processes contribute to social responsibility. But being socially responsible begins in your own company and with how you treat your workforce.

Training and awareness raising

HR is largely responsible for providing induction training for new employees on the company’s policies, processes and other relevant topics. I often see diversity and inclusion added as mandatory training for all new staff members. HR can actually do a lot to raise awareness on social issues, social responsibility and general sustainability concerns by integrating relevant material in their mandatory trainings for employees.

We have all heard about unconscious bias training to address gender-related stereotypes. Similar training exists to address visible differences including physical disabilities, race, ethnicity or self-identity. You might be surprised how much unconscious bias you’re harbouring, so trainings like these are very useful to confront those preconceptions.

I have had clients who organised training on operation related sustainability risks that have included environmental management, recycling, pollution prevention and occupational health and safety. While different industries carry different types of risks, the sustainability training can be tailored to be more generic and include initiatives that are easily implementable in the office such as recycling waste, minimising single use plastic and introducing energy efficiency measures.

The pro tip is to collect statistics that put into context how much waste/energy is saved by simple acts such as using your own coffee mug or switching the lights off in meeting rooms not in use. So many of my clients forget how important it is to get in-house social responsibility and sustainability under control before moving onto external facing programs.

Taking a lead on the CSR program

Chances are that your company already has a (more or less) formal program to exercise social responsibility, supporting causes or communities. The implementation of the program often lies with support functions with assistance from core business personnel, while in some cases there are dedicated CSR or human rights teams responsible. In either case, HR can do a few things to support external facing CSR initiatives:

a) they can publicise the program and encourage employees to contribute or participate; and

b) allocate internal resources to expand the initiative and improve the impact.

Ildiko Almasi Simsic is a social development specialist based in the UK and author of What Is A Social Impact? available in paperback, priced at £19.88.